Saturday, 11 October 2008

Sneaky bastards at the Economist

I decided a few months ago not to renew my subscription to The Economist. If you ask me, it has gone downhill in a big way since it started chasing circulation in a big way. Quality has been sacrificed to quantity. Most of their reports on Australia have been laughable - if their reporting on Australia is that bad, then their reporting on the rest of the world must be suspect.

So I ignored all the subscription renewal bumf that came my way. It all went into the recycling. I must have thrown out half a wheelie bin full of subscription renewal enticements.

The addressing slip that arrives with each magazine also informs me that my sub runs out at the end of October.

Imagine my surprise today when I checked my credit card statement and found a charge for renewing my subscription - over 3 weeks before it expires! I didn't authorise a renewal, so I have written to them and asked for my money back - in full.

How on earth do they get away with this shit? I assume that many of their subscribers are corporates, and they won't mind a charge of nearly $400 appearing on their statement unannounced. But I do mind, and I am not paying for it.